Nintendo ‘Starfy’

LEO BURNETT CHICAGO

A fishing trip becomes a high seas epic when a Grandfather’s fish story comes to life in “The Legendary Starfy” directed by Motion Theory’s Mathew Cullen and Christopher Leone.

Motion Theory set out to bring a Grandfather’s fish story to life, crafting a seamless blend of naturalistic performance and stylized realism, creating a storybook epic inhabited by larger (and smaller) -than-life Nintendo characters made real. The tale begins aboard a small fishing boat as a mischievous Grandfather tells his Grandson a whopper of a fish story about a giant undersea monster. At that moment, in the depths below an immense silhouette comes into sight, winding its way toward the tiny boat. The tale unfolds with the surprising arrival of the Legendary Starfy, who plummets into the water to confront the Giant Squid boss – climaxing in their deep-sea David vs. Goliath battle. By the time the Grandfather has finished recounting this wild yarn, the Grandson suspects that this fish story was true all along. In bringing this light-hearted journey together, Motion Theory assembled a team that included Creative Director Kaan Atilla, CG Supervisor Charles Paek, and Art Director Ram Bhat who helped combine visual effects, authentic game characters, and an ever-expanding visual scope to give this tale a bold, cinematic telling.